Divergent Destiny
by Bill The Bard
Summary: KotOR 1 - Darth Malak has unleashed his armada on a crumbling Republic. Who can step into the gap left by Revan's death and stop the new Dark Lord of the Sith?   Chapter Five - it's the day of the big race!.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: KOTOR belongs to BioWare, Star Wars belongs to LucasArts. This fanfic makes no claims to ownership of either franchise.

Welcome to Divergent Destiny, my first fanfic for some time. It's based around the events of the first Knights of the Old Republic, but it's not a simple retelling of the game's events – there are going to be changes! Anyway, read, enjoy and let me know what you think, okay?

Chapter One

It was like awakening after the worst drinking binge in human history. At least, that's what it felt like for Carth Onasi. His body felt bruised, battered and heavy, but his head was worse – as if a herd of banthas were using the inside of his cranium to practise choreographed line-dancing. He tried to open his eyes, and winced. The light in … wherever it was he was … might not have been bright, but at that moment it might as well have been a supernova explosion, the pain it caused. He hurriedly closed his eyes again.

"Take your time. You took a hard hit to the head, you don't want to move too quickly. Zelka's already checked you over, and you'll survive, but take it easy, Republic."

The voice was low, soft, and definitely feminine. Pausing for a few seconds, he opened his eyes again, carefully this time. As his eyes started focussing properly again, he looked up at the woman standing by the side of his bed. Long, white-blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, fringe parted either side of her face, high cheekbones, pale skin, worn black shirt with a tan military vest over it. And the bluest, most piercing eyes he'd ever seen. Two azure orbs assessed his prone form.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Carth Onasi."

He shot up on the bed, then wished he hadn't as pain exploded in his skull and he slumped back down again. "You know me?" he ground out through gritted teeth. He had no idea who this woman was –_ if I'd ever seen a woman with eyes like that before, I'd be damn sure to remember her!_ - but somehow she knew him, Who the hell was she, an agent of the Sith?

She caught the look in his eyes and smiled. He noticed it was a beautiful smile, the way her lips lifted and her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Relax, Onasi, I'm loyal to the Republic. If I was working for the Sith, by now you'd be in a torture cell and I'd be rich – Republic war heroes fetch quite a price, you know." She paused, her hand taking his wrist to check his pulse before she nodded with satisfaction, then eyed him. "Do you want some pain-killers for your headache?"

"Yeah, that'd be good." He watched her as she straightened up and walked over to a nearby workbench. Now that he could see her, she looked thin, or young, or both. Long, frail-looking limbs, boyish hips, flat stomach, small, high breasts – he figured she couldn't have been more than eighteen or nineteen. Then he remembered her eyes – clear, bright and beautiful, yes, but with great pain lurking beneath. Eyes too old for her young face. _Who are you? And just how old are you, anyway? _He waited as she injected him with something, and grinned as the pain in his head finally cleared to a low enough level for him to swing his legs round and sit up on the bed. "So, mind telling me who you are? And where we are?"

She leant back against the workbench, which he could now see was littered with odds and ends, including what seemed like the parts for a blaster rifle, or maybe a sonic rifle – he couldn't quite make out which. "I'm Leia Karan. I used to be a soldier with the Republic. Now I just travel the spacelanes, doing what I can for the Republic, or simply helping out where I can. As for where we are – we're in a disused apartment in Upper Taris. The block's pretty rundown, but that means no-one cares we're here, or asks questions. I pulled you from the crashed escape pod not far from here,and brought you here, along with whatever I could salvage from the pod. The Sith are searching the locale, but I think we're safe here – the residents are illegal aliens, they won't talk."

"The Sith are here?" That wasn't good - if this young woman could recognise him, so might they. And the fate of a Republic war hero and serving officer who fell into their hands would not be pleasant.

He racked his brains to try to recognise the name Leia Karan, given that she knew of him, but nothing came to mind. So either that wasn't her real name, or she simply hadn't been of high enough rank or decorated enough for him to have heard of her. Or else she was lying. _Perhaps she's with the Sith after all, using me to find Bastila, ingratiating herself with me before betraying me, the way Revan and Malak, and the Jedi that followed them, betrayed the Republic! No, if she was Sith, they'd be torturing me even now to find out what I know. Still, just because she says she saved me, doesn't mean I have to trust her. She could be after some kind of reward for finding Bastila. I can't trust her. Not fully._

The slender blonde nodded, her ponytail bouncing with the movement. "They occupied the planet in the aftermath of the space battle. They've locked down the spaceport – nobody leaves Taris – and they're sweeping the lower levels, sending patrols down to the Undercity where a couple of escape pods are supposed to have crashed. You need authorisation to move between levels of the city." She shrugged. "I've been in worse situations – try being alone on Nar Shaddaa without a ship, and falling foul of both the Exchange and the Hutt Cartel … "

He winced at that. "Yeah, that'd be pretty bad, I guess." _Nar Shaddaa, the Smuggler's Moon? So she's a smuggler, or some kind of criminal, then? Damn, I was right – I CAN'T trust her. I'd better keep my eyes on her._ "So, what now?"

Leia looked him over. "Well, we need to find some way of getting you off Taris. Given the lockdown, that's not going to be easy. But don't worry, I'll think of something – what?"

Carth shook his head. "I can't leave – not just yet."

"You want to be captured by the Sith?"

"No! It's just – there's someone else we need to rescue before we escape."

Blue eyes regarded him for a few moments. "Someone important enough for you to risk getting yourself killed for?" At his nod, she asked "okay, I'll bite – who?"

"Someone … important to the Republic." _I can't tell her! If she IS some kind of bounty hunter, I have to keep Bastila's identity secret!_

Electric blue eyes narrowed, and for a moment he wondered if she was about to reveal herself as a Sith after all and attack him. Then the slim blonde relaxed. "It's obvious you don't trust me. Keep your secrets, then – I won't ask again. I take it he's one of the survivors of the escape pods that landed in the Undercity? If he's still alive, that is."

The brown-haired man nodded – she needed to know that much, at least, if she was to be of any use in the search for the missing Jedi. He didn't like not telling her the true identity of their target, but it was safer that way. "She's alive – she always was lucky. Getting away with things others would've died doing … "

"So she's a Jedi, then?"

The pilot choked at that, staring at her frantically. "Wh-what?" _How the hell … ?_

"'There is no luck, there is only the Force.'" Leia regarded him for a few moments longer, then walked over to a mattress on the floor, and started pulling objects from under it. "Don't soil yourself, flyboy – I won't say a word to the Sith." She put on some kind of light body armour, an ammo harness, a visor, and a couple of sonic pistols, which to the pilot's experienced eyes looked to have been extensively customised. "I'll go and ask around, try to find us a way down to the Undercity to rescue your friend. Have a look through my supplies, find something you can use. Just don't take all the valuable kit." She walked to the door. "I'll get Zelka to look in on you soon, just to make sure you're free of a concussion."

"Zelka?" he interrupted her. He didn't like her leaving - maybe she was going to get her Sith masters to pay him a visit. I'd better be ready to make a run if any hostiles show up ...

"Zelka Forn - he runs a local free medi-clinic. He checked you over when I got you here. He's a good man - he hates the Sith for the way they treat the city's inhabitants, especially the poorer ones and the aliens. I'll pick up a few comlinks while I'm out - we need to keep in touch." She got to the door and paused. "I'd try not to do anything too strenuous if I were you - you've been unconscious for a couple of days, you haven't eaten for that long, and Zelka had to give you an intravenous drip whilst you couldn't drink anything. You're still weak, remember - don't kill yourself through overexertion." She tapped a few commands on the door control panel. "This door'll lock once I've gone. Open it for Zelka when he shows up, no-one else." The door slid open.

He called after her "watch yourself out there, beautiful."

She turned, looking down at her boyish figure, then stared at him incredulously. "'Beautiful'? That head injury must have done more damage than I thought!"

She slipped out through the half-open door, followed by his laughter.

Alone, he levered himself up off the bed and looked around the dingy apartment he now found himself in. There were crates and boxes piled in the corners, stuffed under the bed, jammed into overhead cupboards, metal storage cylinders - the place was like a treasure vault waiting to be explored. He lifted one of the boxes onto the bed and started rummaging through it when he heard shots outside the door. Cursing to himself, he grabbed his two blasters which had been resting on a small table next to the bed, and darted towards the door. He had to pause, however, when he suddenly felt dizzy. He took a deep breath. _Damn it, there's trouble outside, I don't have time to be weak! Move, you idiot!_

Opening the door, he was confronted by Leia standing over two smoking, shattered droids and a dead Sith trooper in grey fatigues. A Duros lay on the ground, unmoving, and another was talking to her in his own language. She nodded her agreement with whatever he'd said, and knelt to rifle the pockets of the fallen Sith officer.

"What the hell happened?" He raked her with his gaze, trying to ascertain if she'd been wounded. She seemed okay, but maybe her wounds were hidden. She turned to look up at him, still crouched over the dead body. "Why the hell are you starting a fire-fight right outside our - I mean, your - apartment? Do you want to bring the Sith down on us, or what?"

She straightened up in one fluid motion and gave him an angry glare. Carth suddenly realised that maybe, just maybe, he might have gone too far. As in so far over the line it had disappeared out of sight.

Then the delicate-seeming blonde paused, as if putting a lid on her anger, though he could see the fire that lit her blue eyes as she took a deep breath. "No, I was not trying to alert the Sith, merely stay alive when they started shooting. Don't worry, he - " she gestured to the Duros, "will make sure the trail leads elsewhere if they start searching. Excuse me, I have to go." Back stiff, she turned and quickly walked away from him.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to apologise for his words, but nothing came. He paused, watching her vanish round the bend in the corridor, then sighed, running his hand through his hair dejectedly. He'd really put his foot in it this time, chewing out someone who must have still been pumped full of adrenaline from the fire-fight. Someone who had, according to her own account, pulled him to safety, got him the care he needed, and then given him the freedom to take what he needed from her equipment.

He noticed the Duros eying him thoughtfully. "Go ahead, say it - I screwed up, big time."

"Your words are careless, but you have no evil heart. Let her calm, then apologise. She will forgive, I think - she has a kind heart, she has shown us all here."

Carth's curiosity got the better of him. "How so? Has she been here long?"

"The human female, she has been here eight days, standard. Dia there," he waved a hand towards one of the apartments further along the corridor, "had a bounty on her head. She spoke to Holdan, so he lifts the bounty. One who owes Davik money, she gives him enough to settle."

The pilot groaned. Great, now he felt even worse - she'd not only helped him, but others who were in trouble. He took one last look down the corridor - no sign of her - and went back to the apartment they shared, wondering how the hell he was going to make it up to her - if she even agreed he could stay there after all this.

She strode across the plaza, the cool, calm gait of someone in full control of their surroundings. Locals, seeing her weapons and confident demeanour, moved aside for her. Sith patrols watched her intently, wondering perhaps if she was going to turn those weapons on them. She ignored them, not meeting their gazes as she passed, heading towards her goal. The Sith seemed to believe that the elevator in front of the military base was the only way down to the Lower City. Leia knew better.

A few small side alleys, a cut through a rundown section of the Upper City, and she was at her destination. Hidden behind the wall was a metal ladder whose rungs led straight down to the Lower City, emerging not far from Javyar's Cantina. Only a handful of people knew it was there, but there were other such access points dotted all over Upper Taris - if one knew where to look. A quick check of the area to make sure she was not being watched, and she began the descent.

Carth bent his head over the workbench, eyes intent on his project. Leia's stash had been a veritable treasure trove of useful parts, enough to upgrade both his blasters, give him a much better protective suit of armour - which now even possessed a bioregenerative inner layer - grenades, stimulants - everything the true adventurer might need, in fact.

The holovid blared in the background, though the pilot was paying it little attention. It had caught his eye earlier, when it had mentioned the death of someone called Bendak Starkiller, Apparently a feared, wanted deathmatch specialist, he had been killed by a duellist known only as the Mysterious Stranger. Carth had stared at the armoured figure of the Stranger - whoever he was, he looked dangerous, someone that the pilot really didn't want to meet. The Stranger's tactics had been simple and brutal. Bendak had opened with a thrown plasma grenade - the Stranger had retaliated with a bundle of six thermal detonators. The duelling arena had been buckled, half-melted, the armoured plexiglass bent and crazed - and Bendak had been smeared up the wall. A fitting end for such a killer, Carth thought.

He finished his work with a satisfied smile, and sipped from his cooling mug of caffa. Now he had all he needed to complete the job of rescuing Bastila. He frowned, wondering where Leia was, assuming she wasn't simply refusing to contact him. Not that he'd blame her if she was.

He was ashamed of how he'd acted towards her. Even if he didn't trust her, any more than he did anyone else, that was no reason for laying into her the way he had.

_I have to correct this if we're to work together, or else I have to get out of here, find another base, and start the search for Bastila alone. One or the other. So choose, Onasi. Stay here, swallow your pride and apologise, or get the hell out._

Leia slid the final few feet down the ladder, paused as she checked her surroundings instinctively, and then, hands resting on the grips of her pistols, the slim blonde walked out of the shadowed ruins onto the main thoroughfare through the Lower City.

Straight into a fire-fight.

**End of Chapter One**

Well, there you have Chapter One. I hope you like it. I admit, I borrowed a few elements from Kotor II, such as the armour fittings and weapons upgrades, but I think they fit in a fanfic like this. So please, click on that Review button and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: KOTOR belongs to BioWare, Star Wars belongs to LucasArts. This fanfic makes no claims to ownership of either franchise.

Welcome to the continuation of Divergent Destiny, my KotOR story. Please read, enjoy and let me know what you think, okay?

Chapter Two

"A stranger! Kill her!" The three nearest Vulkars ran at her, vibroblades ready, whilst the two who had been guarding the door to the Vulkar base raised their blasters to fire at her. Cursing herself for not using stealth to enter the Lower City, the slender blonde ran to meet her attackers empty-handed. The first alien never even had time to realise he was being attacked before her hand drove rigid fingers into his eyes with a sickening crunch. Using her momentum, Leia did a handstand over the screaming thug and swept her foot into the second's throat, crushing his windpipe and using the third melee-armed thug as cover from the blasters. The two gunmen, too slow to realise one of their own was now in the line of fire, began shooting, riddling their own gang-member with blaster shots.

Grasping the back of the now-dead alien's jacket, she swung him round in front of her, as an impromptu shield. Whilst quickly pulling a grenade from her harness and throwing at the remaining two assailants. Throwing themselves to either side of the corridor, they avoided the worst of the blast, but had never been her intention that the grenade took care them both; it had been to stop their shooting for long enough that she could get in close.

Pushing aside the corpse she'd been hiding behind, Leia sprinted forward, aiming for the nearest gunman aiming high. He raised a vibroblade to pint it at her head, feet spread and legs braced - and she went in low, sliding along the ground to drive a foot into his crotch, hard. He shrieked and doubled-up as she slid between his legs. She grasped his ankles as she slipped through and pulled his legs from under him, toppling him face-down to the floor. Twisting, she slapped the ground and bounced to her feet, running at the last attacker, stamping on the head of the Vulkar she'd just dropped as she went. He was raising his blaster at her, but too slow; she hit him with a flying leap, shoulder slamming into his forehead, snapping his neck with the force.

She rolled and came to her feet, panting with the exertion. All five were out of the fight, and she straightened, looking around for further assailants.

_All I did was turn a corner, find those idiots standing over three dead Beks, and they, plus the two with blasters, attack me! They really have gone insane, killing anything that moves! I may have to adopt a strategy of shoot first and ask questions later, at least where the Vulkars are concerned. They're acting almost as badly as the Sith, and that's saying something!_

The thin blonde looted the five bodies, checking occasionally to make sure she wasn't being sneaked up on, then headed towards the Hidden Bek base. If anyone knew of a way down to the Undercity, it would be Gadon Thek.

Now that his blasters had been successfully upgraded, there was little for Carth to do except look around the rundown apartment for anything he'd previously missed. A few minutes searching turned up something - a hidden crate tucked behind a false partition wall. _Interesting - whatever's in here, it must be something she wanted kept well out of sight. Let's see what - bloody hell! Sith uniforms! I was right all along, she must be - wait a second, there's more than one here. What the hell? Get them out, see what's here. Let's see, three fabric uniforms and, uh, four black armour suits, all different sizes._

He laid them out on the bed and started sorting through them. Three cloth uniforms, one male, two female, and four armour suits, ranging from slightly smaller than himself to quite a lot larger. He examined them more closely. It became apparent that the armour did not consist of full sets, rather they had been put together from parts of multiple suits, though he could only tell that from the fact that the serial numbers etched inside the armour plates didn't match. The same was true of the uniforms - sleeves had been replaced, and collars, and there was no insignia on the collars, cuffs or breasts. He sat back on his heels, thinking.

_Where did she get all these? Looted from bodies, and she replaced parts damaged in the fights with intact parts from other uniforms? Looks that way. But why's she got so many? This one, _he examined one of the female cloth uniforms, _has definitely been tailored - quite skilfully too. It's damn small - maybe it's her size, she's made this for her own use. Twenty-two inch waist? Damn, there can't be many people that would fit - it must be hers! This one's the same - wonder why she has two her size?_

He searched the hidden storage crate again, finding weapons this time - Sith weapons, sidearms, rifles and grenades - all that would be needed to pass oneself off as a Sith trooper. Even a collection of insignia - epaulettes, buttons, emblems for different parts of the uniforms. Everything needed to pas oneself off as anything from a lowly technician to a pilot, to a Intelligence officer, to well, pretty much anything actually. He looked in the crate again, and found blank ID cards. He whistled, long and low. If the Sith found all of this, it would be a quick trip to the torture cell followed by a swift execution.

His thoughts were interrupted as his comlink buzzed. "Onasi."

"_Onasi, this is Leia Karan. Set this frequency into your comlink as my contact frequency and ID."_

He felt a wave of guilt sweep through him as he heard her low voice. "Look, Leia, I apolo - "

"_Stop, Carth. _Y_ou got angry - it happens. Forget it and move on. I have. Listen, I've got news about your friend."_

He cracked a grin at her words. _Finally, some good news! _"What've you got?"

"_According to my sources, a female Republic officer was in one of the escape pods when it landed in the Undercity. The Black Vulkars, a local gang, took her prisoner. She's being held till the local gang meet swoop race, where she's the prize for the winner. Apparently, the Vulkar leader, Brejik, hopes to win enough support from the smaller gangs to gather enough strength to crush the Vulkars' rivals, the Hidden Beks._"

"Dammit! So what do we do now?" He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the bristles along his chin. Maybe it was time for him to shave?Or perhaps he should just stick with the rugged, man-of-action look ...

"_I've arranged to take part in the race - if I win, I can take your friend away with me. But to do that, we have to break into the Vulkar base, and to do THAT, we need to get down to the Undercity, find a Twi'lek girl named Mission Vao, and use her knowledge to get into the base and steal a prototype swoop bike accelerator. Get yourself kitted out for a dangerous expedition, then head out of the apartments, turn left, head to the exit to the Upper City North, go through, and wait in the plaza in front of you - I'll meet you there._"

"Got it. I'll see you there." Carth sighed with relief as he signed off. _She doesn't sound mad at me, which is good. I'll still have to apologise sometime, though. But some gang is holding Bastila prisoner, which is bad. I hope we can get to her in time, before they sell her into slavery._

He found a suit of light battle armour which fitted, and had upgrades already added to it, an ammo harness which he hung with grenades and spare energy cells, an energy shield which he strapped to his arm,and a bundle of medkits, which he took and hooked on his belt. Finally satisfied, he left the apartment following her directions.

Leia was waiting in the plaza when he got there. The burn marks and fresh dirt on her clothing showed she'd been in some sort of fight. The energy shield on her arm was new, too, at least as far as he could recall. "Where'd you get that from?" He indicated the shield. "I don't remember you having that when you left." _Smooth move, Onasi. Keep away from the subject of you being an ass earlier._

Leia shrugged. "I ran into an assassin called Selven. The Taris government had a bounty out on her, so I collected." She didn't seem to want to go any further, but her words had brought him up short.

"An assassin? You fought an assassin? I mean, I don't mind the thought of killing someone like but that, but have you forgotten what we're really here for?"_ Is she crazy? We've got to find Bastila and get her off Taris, not go round dealing with professional killers for a reward! What does she think she's doing? Maybe I was wrong to let her lend a hand, if she's going to pull stupid stunts like that!_

She stopped abruptly, and gave him a long, hard look, before giving an exaggerated sigh. "No, actually, I haven't forgotten. I know we need to find your friend and help her escape this wonderful planet. But that doesn't mean I'm going to simply put aside my morality till we're done. She was a wanted woman, responsible for the deaths of scores of victims on Taris alone - what, you think I should've walked past and ignored her?" _Is he going to question every decision I make, challenge my every move? s_he thought tiredly. _If he is, I don't know how we're going to work together. I'm a loner, I prefer it that way._

"Well … yes! You should! Rescuing .. my friend .. is what's important right now, it should be your top priority. If you'd been killed, how would I have found a way to rescue her?" He was getting angry at her unwillingness to listen to him. _Why does she have to be so awkward, so damned obstinate and unprepared to listen to reason!_

She looked him squarely in the eye. "I find your lack of faith … disturbing. Look, Republic, I can look after myself, okay? I know what I'm doing. You just have to trust me. Otherwise, it's going to be difficult to work together." There was a note in her voice when she spoke that Carth couldn't quite grasp. A lack of conviction in her won words, perhaps? He couldn't quite manage to figure it out.

"Sorry, but I don't trust anyone. Not any more. And neither should you. I don't trust you, and I'll be keeping my eye on you."

She sighed, shook her head, and started walking. _I don't need this, I really don't need this. I have to spend my time risking my life in the company of someone who won't trust me, has no faith in my judgement and argues all the time? If there wasn't another's life resting on this, I'd tell him to go ahead without me. But I can't, I'm not like that, dammit! I can't walk away from the moral code I've always believed in just because the person I'm helping is infuriatingly paranoid and untrusting._

They'd walked almost to where the ladder down was concealed before Carth spoke again. "So, uh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but how old are you, anyway?"

She threw him a sideways glance. "Why, how old do you think I am?"

"Well," he started to reply, before catching himself. _Damn, if I say the wrong thing, she'll be pissed as hell! _"Well, I mean, you've got the build of someone of, maybe, twenty, but you're far too mature to be that young.

She pulled up in midstep, stared at him for a few moments, then started laughing. It was a musical laugh, low-pitched and melodic, and after a moment or two Carth joined in. When they finally got control of themselves she was grinning at him. "Twenty? How old would I have been to have served in the Mandalorian Wars, then? Thirteen?" She laughed again, white teeth flashing. "I'm twenty five, actually. I was eighteen when the Wars started. I'm just naturally skinny - "

"- slender - "

She laughed again. "Banthashit! I know damn well I haven't much of a figure - I've overheard men say 'I prefer something with more meat on the bones, something I can grab hold of' when they think I can't hear them. You don't have to flatter me, flyboy."

"I'm not!" he was grinning at her now.

"Riiight!"

He looked at the bodies scattered across the floor, and stared at Leia. This your welcoming committee?"

"Yes. I don't know why the Vulkars are acting like this, but they're simply shooting everyone they see on sight." She sighed. "I guess we'll end up killing more if they've got your friend prisoner … "

He didn't answer her, just kept walking. He stole a glance at her, noticing again just how frail-looking she was. _Just who the hell Is she? She took out five armed thugs with no weapons, from what I can see of the corpses! How can someone who looks like a gust of wind'll blow them away be so damn good in hand-to-hand? That level of skill's higher than an average grunt would possess. Special forces, maybe, commando, something like that. But surely she'd have more muscle bulk if that were the case? Maybe she IS some kind of Sith assassin after all!_

They walked in silence past a blaring cantina doorway before Carth felt obliged to speak. "So how did you get the info about my friend being held by the Vulkars, anyway?"

Leia gestured to a hard-faced, coffee-coloured woman guarding a door. "The Hidden Beks are the Vulkars' enemies. They used to be the top dog, till Brejik, the Vulkar leader, started having delusions of grandeur, and began this whole gang war. Gadon Thek, the Bek leader, is someone who owed me a debt for … past services rendered." She refused to elaborate on that.

_Past services? What the hell does that mean, that she killed someone for him? Or does she mean … _An image formed in his mind, of the pony-tailed blonde standing before some shadowy, vaguely-defined man, slowly removing her clothes. He mentally shook himself. _No, she wouldn't do that, she's not that sort of person … is she? Wait, why are you bothered? It's not like you know her that well, she's just a temporary acquaintance, that's all._

"So he told me the info in exchange for paying off the debt. .He also agreed to let me ride for the Beks in the big swoop race. We just have to get the prototype engine back from the Vulkars. To do that we have to pass the forcefield guarding the way into the base, and for that, we need Mission Vao - she boasted to me once that she had the codes to bypass the field - a Vulkar got drunk in the cantina one night, she picked his pocket."

She gave a slight sigh. "And to find her, we have to go down to the Undercity, and probably the sewers. I hate the Undercity," she added with feeling.

**End of Chapter Two**

Well, there you have Chapter Two. I hope you enjoyed it, and I think Carth wasn't TOO much OOC, given I'm not using the game's exact words too much. I'll be updating as and when I can. So please, click on that Review button and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: KOTOR belongs to BioWare, Star Wars belongs to LucasArts. This fanfic makes no claims to ownership of either franchise.

Welcome to Chapter Three of Divergent Destiny, my KotOR story. Please read, enjoy and let me know what you think, okay? My thanks to all of you who are commenting on this story - it makes it worth my while to continue!

Chapter Three

There were, Leia thought, many good reasons for hating the Taris Undercity. There was the lack of sunlight, for one thing; there was the general mood of despondency amongst the undernourished, dirty inhabitants; there was of course the menace of the rakghouls, the hideously mutated flesh-eating monsters that had once been human, that now preyed upon anything living they found. But most of all, she thought grimly, worse than any of those things, there was the smell. The stink of effluent, of decaying waste, the reek of the sticky brown 'mud', if that was all it was, that clung to boots - that stink soaked into clothing and hair and clung to one's body so that it lingered long after you left the Undercity.

And of course, the sewers were even worse.

But the front entrance to the Vulkar base was sealed too tight to break through. Therefore, they had to try to find away into the base via the rear entrance. She knew there was a forcefield down there. Most likely placed by the Vulkars to prevent intrusion from below. Still, it was possible that Mission Vao, the young Twi'lek girl Gadon had pointed her towards, might know a way round that obstacle. She seemed confident that she could circumvent the gang's defences

Speaking of whom, before they could get into the Vulkar base, they had made an agreement with the girl; in exchange for her help in bypassing the base's security, they now had to rescue Mission's Wookiee friend Zaalbar from Gamorrean slavers hiding in the sewers. Which would, of course, mean killing more Rakghouls. Somewhere down here, according to Zelka, was a serum which would cure the terrible disease, issued to all the Sith patrols entering the Undercity. She just had to find it …

"Hey, you two, keep quiet and watch yourselves! We have company!" Her low, urgent tomes cut through the impending argument between the teenaged Twi'lek and the pilot. The two of them turned to look where the blonde's attention was fixed. Movement in the shadows was all they could initially make out, until the unmistakable outline of guns could be seen.

Canderous Ordo was, quite bluntly, sick of this whole stupid mission. He'd tried to argue with Davik that the men he was expected to lead had no idea how to survive in a situation like this, but been overruled, all the time Calo Nord smirking at his misfortune. He suppressed a growl of frustration and anger - one day, he swore, he'd deal with the arrogant runt once and for all. In the meantime, he had a job to do - and it seemed there might be complicating factors. Such as the strangers who had just emerged from the shadows.

His hard eyes narrowed as he glared at them. He vaguely recognised the blue-skinned Twi'lek teen as someone he'd seen hanging around Javyar's Cantina with a Wookiee for a friend. A typical street urchin in his opinion, mouthy about her age, pretending to have seen it all, but not much of a threat to a Mandalorian warrior. The second, a brown-haired man in armour carrying twin blasters, looked rather more competent than his own men; at least, he looked as if he knew how to use his weapons in a firefight, even if the expression on his face was tinged with disgust at the current location he found himself in.

It was the third figure who interested him most …

_Sooo, Karan, you're down here now. So what're you looking for, huh? This isn't your usual haunt, you're more normally up in the Lower, or even Upper City, helping the weak and foolish. Don't know why you bother - if someone can't help themselves, let 'em burn! But you're one of those fools who deny the natural order of the universe - the strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must._

_Still, you can fight - I know, I've seen you. And you don't put yourself in dangerous situations for fun - you're no idiotic glory-seeker, heading for an early death due to your own stupidity. No, you're down here for a reason; something you think worth braving the Undercity and it's dangers for. I wonder what that could be? I'm sure Davik would be interested in hearing that you're here._

_But I'm not telling the bastard! Thinks he can screw me over on my money and get away with it, does he? No, whatever reason you're here for, girl, I'm keeping your presence a secret - for now, at least._

"Karan." His voice was wary and respectful, and his men stared at him in surprise - he didn't speak to anyone like that, not even Calo Nord. Why was he showing such respect to this skinny girl?

"Ordo." she nodded her head, just a little, the acknowledgement of one peer to another. She knew of him, of course, though they'd never said more than a handful of words to each other. Davik Kang's chief enforcer, a Mandalorian war veteran, deadly in all kinds of combat, someone who took no nonsense from others, but had a Mandalorian's sense of honour - a cut above the rest of Kang's men, such as the bloodthirsty bounty hunter Nord.

"I'm surprised to see you down here, girl. This isn't your usual stomping grounds. You must be after something important. Let me give you some advice; turn around and go back where you came from!"

Leia felt Carth tense behind her, and swiftly answered to allay his fears. "I appreciate the advice, Ordo, but I can't - I have to do his."

He scowled. "Never figured you for a fool, Karan. The Vulkars have already stripped the scape pods - I know, that's why we're down here, to collect salvage for Davik. He'll be mad the Vulkars got here first - everyone knows Davik'd want first shot at anything valuable. So now you know - "

"Canderous, I-I heard something moving, in the shadows. Sounded like a rakghoul!"

The big Mandalorian turned, readying his blaster. "Lock and load, boys - here they come!"

"Carth, Mission, concentrate fire on one at a time till they fall! Don't spilt your fire, and don't shoot at a rakghoul in close combat!" Pulling out the two vibroblades she'd picked up from the untrustworthy merchant Igear, back in the Undercity village, she ran at the nearest monster as her two companions opened fire.

It was the first time Mission had seen her in action, and the blue-skinned Twi'lek teen was amazed at just how fast the willowy blonde moved. Her blades flashed in the gloom, weaving a blazing web of death, as Leia spun and leapt and ducked and rolled through the rakghouls, cutting at arms and legs and necks. Canderous kept up a rapid volley of fire into the creatures, and it didn't take long for the last one to fall. One of Ordo's men lay still, however, torn apart by the claws and fangs of the ravening creatures.

"Damn! I told Davik these men weren't trained for this, and I haven't the time to babysit them! Okay boys, we're heading back. Pick up all the salvage you can, and let's move! I can't carry it all myself". Canderous turned to Leia, noting with a degree of respect that she'd taken out two of the monsters single-handedly, and hadn't suffered so much as a scratch - a good thing, given that the rakghouls claws spread the horrible infection. One minor cut from claws or teeth, and you were doomed to become one of the grotesquely warped, flesh-eating horrors.

"Like I said, you'd be better off turning round and going home. The Vulkars already have the best stuff anyway, all safely locked up in their base. You can't break in there, there's too many of them. It'd be suicide. A tip, from one pro to another. Let's go, boys!"

Without a backwards glance, the big man turned and led what was left of his men towards safety. If she felt like staying and dying, it wasn't his problem.

Carth had to admit, the Sith patrol never stood a chance. _The nerve of her! "Hi boys, I'm here to kill you, hope you don't mind!" Still, she got the rakghoul serum. So once we've rescued Bastila and got back to the Upper City, she can give it to - what was his name again? Zelka Forn. And eliminate the disease once and for all. As long as it doesn't delay us saving Bastila, I don't mind._

"So, Mission, how'd you and this Zaalbar hook up?"

The young girl grinned. "Well, we met in the cantina. Even back then, before Brejik took over, the Vulkars were scum. Anyway, there were three of them hassling him, see , so I figured this poor Wookiee, all alone and confused on an alien planet - I could tell he was new just looking at him - he needed help. So I yelled 'leave him alone, you Vulkar scum' and ran right at them. Well, one of them saw me coming and slapped me so hard, I was pretty much knocked out."

"You'd've done better sneaking up behind one and smashing a table over his skull," Leia commented as she checked a skeletal corpse, much to Carth's distaste. _Is there __no__ body she won't loot?_

The Twi'lek scratched her head, her _Iekku_ twitching. "Yeah, I guess that'd work," she replied slowly. "Y'know, for an old woman you're not too bad," she added lightly. The taller woman chose to ignore that remark, and walked away, leaving Carth to continue to be the target for Mission's acid comments and observations.

"So anyway, Zaalbar let out this roar and lifted the Vulkar into the air by the throat! I think the guy passed out from terror! Or, maybe it was Big Z's breath - I keep telling him to do something about his teeth, but he won't listen - he keeps saying it's not 'Wookiee culture'." So then the other two idiots ran away! Heh, guess they weren't as tough as they acted! So, that's how we hooked up. Are we gonna go find him yet?"

Carth rolled his eyes as Leia shrugged. "I've got the serum, there's nothing more to loot up here - let's go. Just remember - be careful using grenades down there. Firstly, the blast'll be concentrated by the enclosed conditions, and second, they're sewers, they might be full of explosive gasses … "

Leia dived and rolled to escape the shrapnel thrown out by the two grenades as they dropped into the middle of the Gamorrean slavers. Bits of rancid flesh and shredded clothing spattered the walls of the sewer tunnels as the thin pony-tailed blonde, now coated with the muck and filth of the sewers, came to her feet, glaring at the other two. "Next time you two geniuses feel like tossing explosives around, do you think you could let me know before I go running into hand-to-hand?"

The two culprits looked suitably sheepish at her criticism, though the pilot made a weak effort to defend them. "Hey, we didn't think you were going to just charge them like that … "

"We agreed what the tactics were! If we have enough advance warning, then use grenades to soften them up first. But if we're going through a door and meet opposition nearby, then I attack the ones closest to us while you gun down those further away!" Distastefully wiping something she didn't really want to identify from her face, she growled at the other two, "if you can't follow instructions, I'll do this alone!"

"Sorry … "

"Yeah, like sorry … "

She stalked away, and the other two heard vague mutterings about 'amateurs'. Mission made an effort to stifle her giggles, whilst Carth suppressed a smile - in the mood she was in, if Leia thought they were making fun of her, she was likely to inflict physical damage on them both …

_Idiots! They're treating this like it's a game! Someone could get badly hurt if they act like this, forgetting orders, placing each other at risk … I think I'd better put a stop to it right now._

As if she'd asked for just such a thing to occur right there and then, she heard the banging and gurgling indicating that one of the nearby sewage pipes was in use. A flick of the wrist, a slight cut into the pipe, and it's liquid contents were spraying out over Carth and Mission.

"Hey! What the - ?"

"Aaaahh! That is so GROSS!"

Leia merely gave them both an innocent smile as she walked away.

The mockery stopped shortly after that.

"Just a little more, and - there!" The door sprung open, and the huge shape of an overjoyed Wookiee could be seen running towards them. "Zaalbar, there you are! You're safe! Didja think I'd forget about you? Mission and Zaalbar, together forever!"

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Mission! I was close to giving up any thought of rescue! Who's that with you?"

The Twi'lek threw a grin over her shoulder at the blonde. "Her? The blonde with a figure like a drainpipe?" She laughed at the mock-scowl Leia fixed her with. "That's Leia Karan. It's thanks to her I was able to rescue you."

Leia shrugged. "It needed doing. It's good to see you again, Zaalbar."

The huge Wookiee stared at her, then grinned, showing yellow teeth. "I recognise you; you're in the cantina some nights, and I've heard you've done some bounty collecting, too. Yes, I remember you. And Mission somehow managed to persuade you to find me? I am grateful, Leia Karan, more grateful than you can know. The Gamorreans were going to sell me into slavery, as they have sold so many of my people back on Kashyyyk. They see us as ignorant animals fit only to be exploited for our great strength. You have saved me from such a fate. And for that - "

"No."

Zaalbar looked taken aback at the immediate rejection, and Mission grabbed Leia's arm tightly. "Leia!" she hissed. "He's trying to say something really important! You can't just - "

"I can." She removed her arm from Mission's grip, and faced the shocked and unhappy Zaalbar. "I'm sorry, I know how much your freedom means to you, and that it's an honour to receive a Wookiee life-debt. But I can't accept it. I travel alone, I have for years. I can't … " She sighed, running her fingers through white-blonde hair, now stained with dirt from their travels through the sewers. "Zaalbar, what you offer me is an honour, and I wish I could accept. But I can't travel with people, I just can't, not now, not after … " Her voice tailed off, leaving the others to wonder what she had been going to say.

It was then that a flash of inspiration hit her, and she suddenly grinned, much to the Wookiee's surprise. "If it means so much to you that you're free of the slavers, then it would seem to be most appropriate for you to swear your life-debt to the person who persuaded us," she gestured to Carth and herself, "to come to your rescue - Mission."

"Me?" the girl squeaked in shock. "B-but I - Zaalbar's a friend, I don't need to - "

"Zaalbar." Leia cut the teen's babbling off with one single word, and the others waited for her to continue, Carth musing to himself that, whatever Leia Karan had been in her past, she certainly knew how to command others. _Maybe she __was__ in the military before, like she said._

"I cannot accept your commitment to follow me, but I understand that your honour demands that your debt is repaid. Therefore I ask that you accept this duty - that you protect Mission Vao, guard her from harm, wherever she walks, whatever she does. Will you accept this duty from me, in lieu of the life-debt that you feel you owe to me?"

Zaalbar considered her words for several seconds, then growled his agreement. It was not quite the same as a life-debt, but it would meet the debt of honour he had accrued to this woman - and he knew Mission would never abuse his trust, whereas he knew little about this woman other than her name and her part in his rescue.

"Uh, o-okay, if that's fine with you, Big Z. Hope you don't regret this. So, uh, we agreed, you help free Zaalbar, and I find you the way into the Vulkar base. There's a way in guarded by a forcefield, somewhere over to the north-east, if I remember correctly. Fortunately, I can get us past it. Let's hope that Rancor monster's not there anymore, though ..."

Leia groaned and massaged the bridge of her nose. "There's one of those thing's down here? Great - we can't all sneak past it." She glanced at Carth for confirmation, who nodded apologetically - his skill set didn't include stealth abilities. She sighed and flicked a stray strand of fair hair out of her eyes. "Guess we'll have to come up with some other way of getting past it. I think we can rule out hand-to-hand combat, though …"

**End of Chapter Three**

Well, there you have Chapter Three. I hope you enjoyed it, and that it's fresh, not just a retelling, though it'll diverge from the gameplay a bit more later on. I'll be updating as and when I can. So please, click on that Review button and let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: KOTOR belongs to BioWare, Star Wars belongs to LucasArts. This fanfic makes no claims to ownership of either franchise.

Welcome to Chapter Four of 'Divergent Destiny', my KotOR story. My apologies for the delay – my account decided to go on strike! Anyway, it's here now! Please read, enjoy and let me know what you think, okay? My thanks to all of you who are commenting on this story - it makes it worth my while to continue!

Chapter Four

"Back in the military I'd've used mines or some other explosives," Leia muttered quietly, having taken a quick look at the massive Rancor blocking their path into the Vulkar base. She knew the creatures were highly resistant to blaster fire, and that this one was too big to easily defeat in close combat. That left, in military parlance, 'shoot-and-scoot' - hitting the beast then falling back, firing again then moving to another position, over and over, until the Rancor fell of multiple wounds, none of them individually fatal, but cumulatively causing lethal trauma. Either that, or Mission and herself continued without the others, as they were the only two skilled enough to use the stealth generators they had. Unless …

"Hold position here. I'm going to check the area out, see if there's a way to get past the beast without engaging it. Keep out of its' line of sight, and wait for my return."

"And if you don't return?" Carth couldn't help but ask, knowing what that would imply. She gave him a cool look before answering.

"Then you can assume my plan of action was incorrect and come up with your own, can't you?" She didn't wait for him to reply before activating her own stealth belt, seeming to vanish before their eyes.

The Rancor, she quickly saw, was too close to the way to the Vulkar base to simply run past - it would have to be either dealt with, or lured away from its current position. Keeping a cautious eye on the hungry and smelly creature, the slender blonde moved invisibly past the monster, seeing the entrance to the Vulkar base guarded by two thugs, both of whom were at that moment oblivious to her presence. She moved silently closer and closer, watching them for a sign they had noticed her, but they gave no sign of sensing her approach. Stepping between them, she readied her vibroblades, and whirled, striking with both weapons at the nearest guard. He fell, cut through the neck and waist, dead before he could make a sound. The second thug gaped at her in shocked amazement before drawing his blaster. But he was too slow; Leia cut him down before he could fire a single shot or otherwise raise the alarm. Moving swiftly, she pressed the button to open the doors to the base as the Rancor became aware of her and turned, roaring a challenge. She dived through the door and waited for them to close behind her.

_Well, I'm in, but the others can't join me with that creature blocking the way._

Taking a deep breath, and pushing a stray stand of white-blonde hair from her eye, she activated her stealth field generator again and opened the door back to the Rancor's nest site.

It was still there, suspiciously sniffing the air as she moved past it undetected, back to rejoin the rest of her little raiding party. Mission jumped in surprise as she rematerialised amongst them, and Carth glared at her."Where've you been? We were wondering if you were dead!" the pilot growled angrily. "What the hell did you think you were doing, not keeping in contact while you were gone?"

_She takes too many risks, dammit! Bastila's relying on us, and she goes off and does her own thing without keeping us informed of what she's up to!_

She froze, then turned to face him, blue eyes hard and cold, and Carth took a step back as he met her icy gaze. _Okay, this stops right now! I am not going to have every move I make questioned like this! I don't care what trust issues he has, this ends here and now!_

"In case you'd forgotten," she started slowly, and Mission and Zaalbar took a step back, wanting to get out of the line of fire, "I told you I was going to scout out the area, and that's exactly what I was doing - or had you forgotten that?"

"No, I - "

"How long was I gone for?" she continued in a mild tone. Mission and Zaalbar looked at each other - they could both tell this was not going to be pleasant. Quite sensibly, they both decided to keep quiet and stay out of the argument.

"Ten minutes, maybe more."

"So, after I tell you all I'm going to scout out the lay of the land, see what the situation is and if there's a way to get past the Rancor, I'm gone for ten minutes, and you start questioning my decisions, you start wondering about my competency, you start thinking I've done something reckless and stupid and gotten myself killed because obviously I'm incompetent and can't make decisions properly. Fine, that's the way you want to play this, that's the way we'll do it. I'm done. Go ahead, Onasi - you're in charge! What're your orders?" She stepped back and folded her arms, staring at him coolly.

The other three were shocked, Carth especially. "I'm in charge? I don't know anything about Taris, let alone the Undercity!" _She must be joking! I've only been on this planet a few hours, what do __I__ know about this place? All three of them are more familiar with here than I am. She's got to be kidding! Hasn't she?_

"Not my problem. You don't think I can lead, you make the command decisions, so go on, SIR, how are we getting into the base?" _You think you can do a better job than me, Onasi, go right ahead! I know what __I'd__ do to get us in, but let's see what __you__ can come up with! _

Carth looked stunned at her actions, before recovering and looking around at the others, assessing the resources available to him. "Well, uh, we need to get past the Rancor, … but we can't sneak past, and it's immune to blasters, so, maybe grenades. Okay, how many frag grenades do we have?"

The others checked their supplies. "I've got six." "Seven here." "Five." The brown-haired Republic officer couldn't help but notice that Mission and Zaalbar were giving Leia sideways glances, as if expecting her to step in and take charge again.

"And I've got five too. So that makes twenty-three. To stop that monster, hmm, that may not be enough. Got any more supplies of explosives?" he asked Leia. He wasn't sure how she'd respond - events were moving too fast for him right now, he was off-balance, unsure of his footing, and she wasn't going to make things any easier for him.

"Not on me, sir, I'd have to go back for the rest of my grenades - which is about twenty or so in total. I don't keep mines around though, too bulky and with limited usefulness, sir."

"Don't call me sir, dammit!" _She's just doing it to wind me up - and she's damn well succeeding!_

"But you're in charge now, sir," the blonde responded smugly. "What else should I call you, sir?" _Not so happy now, are you Onasi? You kept challenging me on everything you should be able to take over now._

He seethed for a few moments, then sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. _Dammit, I might've been in the military back in the war, and commanded troops too, but I'm not the best suited to these conditions - she is. I wasn't a ground commander, I was Space. She knows the lay of the land, and anyway, it's her Mission and Zaalbar are looking to for leadership.,not me. _"Okay, fine, you win! I get the picture. You know this planet better than I do, you're better suited to being in charge here and now. I'll stop challenging you, unless I see a flaw in your plans, okay? Now, I know you've got something up your sleeve, so let's hear it."

She smiled, white teeth flashing even in the dim light of the sewers. "And no more challenging me just because it is me saying what we're doing?" _It's about damn time too._

"No. I get it. I'll keep my mouth shut, okay?"

"Good." Satisfied that she had finally proven her point, she turned back to to Mission and Zaalbar. "We're not going to use grenades - it'd take too long, and we might run out of ordnance before it's dead. We can't all sneak past, so that leaves two possible courses of action; one, only Mission and I go in, or two, we draw the Rancor away from the base entrance before getting inside leaving the beast behind."

"Draw it away? Are you crazy? Like, that thing is huge! If it catches the bait, they're dead!" The blue-skinned Twi'lek street urchin was agitated - she'd thought the thin blonde was sensible, a better choice for leader than the old, though somewhat cute, guy with the stubbly chin. But now she was suggesting playing 'tag' with a Rancor!

Leia grinned again, and Carth once again saw how pretty she could be if she just smiled more. "Oh don't worry, Mission, I'm not suggesting anyone else play the part of the lure, that's my job" She pulled something from her pocket and twirled it thoughtfully between long, slender fingers. "This," she indicated the small phial, " will give me the edge I need to survive. It's a dose of adrenal alacrity stim - I'll be able to move faster, keep just out of range of our large friend's claws and jaws. So here's what we're going to do - I'll cross to the other side of the room, beyond the pile of corpses our host has left piled up. You move along the wall this side - you should be able to go five or six metres in before it picks you up, so don't get too close. When you're in position, I inject myself with this, move forward to attract its attention, it comes after me, you run into the base, I dodge past in and come join you. Any questions?"

"Are you sure of this, Leia Karan? There is no safer option?" Carth wasn't quite sure just when the young woman could've learnt the Wookiee tongue - Mission he could understand learning from her friend - but somehow, somewhere, she had. He didn't know what the massive Wookiee has said, but even he knew a question when he heard it.

The thin woman looked up at the towering Wookiee, dwarfed by his vastly greater bulk. "Thanks for the concern, Zaalbar, but without heavy ordnance, that thing's just too tough to kill. And the first rule of leadership says 'never order someone to do something you wouldn't do yourself'. Which leaves me to run interference for the rest of you. So, we all clear on the plan?" At everyone's nods, she set her shoulders. "Okay then people, let's move."

Taking up position against the wall just out of line of sight of the huge creature, the pilot glanced over at the opposite wall, where he could just make out through the gloom the tiny figure of the blonde-haired woman moving silently from shadow to shadow, before halting. He thought she glanced in their direction, though the light was too dim to be sure.

Leia pressed the stim against her leg as she drew her blaster with her free hand. Stepping forward she fired at the massive beast, which bellowed in rage, the sound echoing back from the metal walls in a deafening cacophony, before it thundered towards her, huge paws raised to squash her flat. She turned and sprinted towards the back wall, firing over her shoulder as she ran, the Rancor in close pursuit, its fetid breath filling her nostrils with its hot, acrid stench.

Needing no further invitation, the others ran for the base entrance as fast as they could. Leia ran straight at the wall, then sprinted up the wall, her momentum carrying her three metres off the floor, until she kicked off the metal wall in a sideways diving roll that took her away from the swiping talons of the monster trying to kill her, landed in a crouch, then ran for the base doors.

"Hit the emergency close switch!" she screamed, and Zaalbar did as she ordered. The doors began to slide shut, and Leia dived through the rapidly closing gap, rolling and coming to her feet in one smooth motion as the massive bulk of the Rancor slammed into the doors, making them shudder with the impact.

"That went well," she said calmly as she stood, brushing dust off her clothes. The others stared at her as she smiled. "Well, no-one got hurt, did they? And our large friend back there can't get in. So we can proceed to get the accelerator back, take it to Gadon and get me entered in the swoop race, as agreed."

"That thing's still alive! If we try to leave, it'll be there waiting for us,won't it?"

She gave Carth a 'look'. "I thought you were going to trust my judgement? We're not leaving the way we came in, we'll go out the front entrance - it can be opened from inside, remember?"

Mission laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Guess you remember the first rule of any job - 'don't just plan your way in, plan your way out'."

The blonde gave the Twi'lek girl a knowing look. Mission grinned - she liked the older woman; even if she wasn't always that friendly, she knew what she was doing. Zaalbar was happy that the woman leading their little group wasn't as suicidal as she'd first seemed. And Carth simply grunted his acknowledgement.

"So let's move, people."

Carth reflected that after this little mission, the Vulkars weren't going to be much of a threat to the people of the Lower City anymore, not with the number of them dead from the raid on their base. _We must've killed thirty or forty of them, as well as destroyed a number of their droids, looted their armoury, blown up their swoop bikes and generally trashed the place quite thoroughly._

The tactics used had been as simple as they were effective. Equipping Zaalbar with a Gamorrean slaver's axe, the Wookiee and Leia herself had charged into close combat with anyone near to them, whilst he and Mission laid down covering fire. At longer ranges, frag grenades had softened up the enemy before they were finished off with blasters, axe and vibroblades. Heavily-armed droids had been dealt with using ion grenades, large groups of Vulkars had been broken up by diversionary tactics then eliminated piecemeal, and the whole thing had gone smoothly - they'd only had to use a couple of medpacks on Zaalbar, as the Wookiee was unable to wear any protective armour and was thus more vulnerable to battle injuries than his human fighting companion, though he could take more punishment too.

They had just encountered the acting leader of the Vulkars, one Kandon Ark, and his Twi'lek bodyguard, plus two armed thugs. All now lay dead on the floor. Mission and Leia were looting the bodies, whilst Zaalbar had hefted the swoop bike accelerator as if it were a toy.

Leia straightened and grinned at him. "Now we've got that thing, I can get to ride my first swoop race!"

He stared at her in disbelief. "You've never been in a swoop race before?"

"I've never been ON a swoop bike before!"

As the others picked themselves up off the floor at her statement, she looked at them in bemusement at their responses. "There's a first time for everything, right? I mean,how hard can it be?"

**End of Chapter Four**

Well, there you have Chapter Four. I decided not to use the game's 'everything is on you at all times' workings - the heroes actually have limits to what they can carry, hence having to leave stuff back at base. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think of it all!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: KOTOR belongs to BioWare, Star Wars belongs to LucasArts. This fanfic makes no claims to ownership of either franchise.

Welcome to Chapter Five of 'Divergent Destiny', my KotOR story. Not too much divergence yet, but wait and see – things are going to change very soon indeed ...

Chapter Five

"NOOOOOOO!"

Heart pounding, lungs burning, Leia shot upright on her bedroll, the anguished, terror-filled scream echoing from the bare metal walls of the otherwise empty swoop bike hanger. She struggled to bring her breathing back under control, head cradled in trembling hands.

_Not that nightmare again! Why now? Why did I dream that .. the deaths, the screaming, the pain! Why? Is it .. is it because of her? The Jedi we're here to save?Is that the reason? I … I can't get back to sleep, not if it might mean having that dream again ..._

Climbing unsteadily to her feet, the trembling blonde rubbed her face with her hands, breathing deeply, eyes closed. She was grateful that there was no-one around to hear her - the rest of the gang were back at her apartment in the run-down block, and the mechanics were next door working through the night to get the swoop bike ready for the race in the morning.

_Good thing too,_ she thought, wiping her eyes and cheeks to remove all evidence of the treacherous tears. _If a gang were to see me crying, they'd tear me apart! _She leant back against the stark, unpolished durasteel wall, closing her eyes and crossing her arms under her breasts.

Nightmares weren't unknown to her; they were her frequent visitors. The faces of friends and loved ones screaming in agony, or pale and still in death. The thunder of battle, the flash of blaster and turbolaser fire, the roar of explosives, the adrenaline rush and frantic terror of hand-to-hand combat. The stink of death filling her nostrils, the screams of the dying thrumming in her ears, the butchered bodies of the innocent casualties of the Mandalorians' brutality - the years of warfare had given her more than enough raw material for nightmares. She had become hardened to them over the years; they were almost like old friends, dropping in from time to remind her they still existed. But this one, this one she could never greet with equanimity. She felt sick to her stomach, unsteady on her feet, drained of strength and emotionally wrung out.

It took an effort of will to straighten up and walk to the door leading to the bay where she could hear the faint sounds of the mechanics working on the bike. Pushing the door open, her ears were struck by the din of power tools hard at work. The Ithorian who was Gadon's chief mechanic straightened up and looked at her questioningly.

"Is there something you wanted, Leia Karan?"

"How's the testing going?"

"It should be stable for the race. There is still plenty to do before the race starts … "

"Don't let me hold you up then."

She wandered over to one of the other bikes sitting idle against the far wall and sat on it, looking over the controls carefully, noting the positioning and spacing between them, placing her feet against the pedals, and began practising moving her hands and feet quickly, precisely and in tandem, as if she were actually riding. Out of the corner of her eye she noted the mechanics pausing to watch her, then turning to talk amongst themselves. _Laying odds I won't survive the first heat, I expect. If so, maybe they'll wager a few credits with me - right now we need all the money we can get if we're going to get off this dump of a planet._

"So when's the big race start?" Mission leant over Carth's shoulder to look at the vidscreen, one hand on his shoulder. It wasn't being broadcast on any of the official media channels, but that didn't mean there wasn't a lot of interest amongst the Lower City's inhabitants. Not only the gangs would be watching intently - Javyar's cantina was showing the whole event, from start to finish. "They started racing yet, or are we gonna haveta listen to commercials an' stuff?"

Carth sighed. He liked the kid, honestly he did, but damn, she could be annoying! "In just under an hour," he grunted out, swirling the drink he held in his hand, watching the sparkling red colours, before taking a sip.

"An' the odds on Leia winning?"

"One hundred to one."

"So, you put all our money on her yet?"

Carth choked on his drink. Wheezing in a desperate attempt to clear the fiery alcohol from his burning windpipe, he turned to stare at the blue-skinned Twi'lek teenager. "What?".

She grinned at him. "Well, if she loses, we're screwed, right? So, like, what've we got to lose? Put it all on her - she wins, we're rich!"

He stared at her in disbelief, before the logic of her words penetrated. _Well, if she loses, the Vulkars give Bastila away and we're right back where we started - except Leia probably won't be around to help if that prototype's as unstable as Gadon let on … If she wins, though … We've got, um, two thousand, seven hundred and forty-three credits, Times one hundred would be - a lot. The kid's right – if she wins, the money'll be damn useful, and if she loses, we're screwed money or no money._

"I'll … see what I can do." He wandered over to the bookie collecting bets in one corner of the cantina. When he returned Mission looked at him expectantly.

"Well?"

"They wouldn't let me bet more than a thousand credits at those odds. Still .. a hundred thousand credits can buy a lot … "

"Ya see, old geezer? Stick with the Mish, she'll see ya through!" She slapped his shoulder then went to find Zaalbar, who'd ordered four meals to make up for the ones he'd missed whilst in the Gamorreans' hands.

Carth just sighed and took another sip of his drink. _I can't believe I just put a thousand credits on a travelling companion winning a race when she's never raced before, or that I've wagered money on an associate surviving a potentially deadly encounter! Being around Mission must be corrupting me ... _

She tightened the straps on her knee protectors, making sure they didn't catch on the thigh pads, or the hardened fronts of her tough, sturdy boots. Satisfied they were properly adjusted, the thin blonde straightened and began settling her jacket into place, double-checking that it would protect her from a crash without impeding her mobility or possibly catching on an obstacle. The front-armoured gauntlets came last, the metal plates acting as secondary streamlining to lower wind resistance. She picked up the helmet, nodded her gratitude to the mechanic, and made her way to the race pit.

She would be riding under the Hidden Bek banner, along with four other Beks. She'd heard the whispers amongst the other riders - a novice, no experience, no hope, dead meat, spare parts for the rich, and so on and so on. She didn't care - after seeing action against the Mandalorians a simple race wasn't going to hold any fears for her. She was going to ride her swoop bike in the race, and she was going to win.

She wouldn't be riding just any swoop bike, either …

"_I'll go further than that - I'll let you ride the swoop bike with the prototype accelerator installed."_

"_Gadon, you can't be serious! We need one of our own riding that bike, not a complete novice!"_

"_Come on, Gadon, what's the catch? She's right, I haven't ridden before, and you're letting me ride the prototype bike? Why aren't you getting your own best rider on it?"_

"_I admit, there's a reason I'm letting you ride the prototype-fitted bike. The accelerator's unreliable - if pushed too far, it might explode. That's why you're riding it. If you win, the other gangs won't join Brejik; if you die, one of my other riders can still win it for us."_

"_Thanks Gadon, you're really boosting my confidence here ..."_

She strolled up to the Duros event organiser. "I'd like to race one of my heats," she said casually. "The name's Leia Karan." The alien checked the records.

"Ah, I see you're riding under the Hidden Bek banner. Always liked them; hope they show these arrogant Vulkars a thing or two. But that's another matter. There you go, you're checked in. You can race a heat any time you want. Just ask me and I'll get things ready."

"What time do I have to beat?"

"Redros, one of the Vulkars, ran 38.6 seconds. Not bad, but not the fastest I've ever seen."

Leia shrugged - it didn't really matter to her what the time was, she'd just go and beat it. "Okay, I'm ready to race."

The race organiser nodded. "Go ahead; the track's clear. Just don't get yourself killed, like the rider earlier, it makes a mess we have to clear up."

She smiled wryly. "Trust me, I don't intend to get killed."

The bike rumbled beneath her as she scanned the track ahead. The obstacles to avoid and the accelerator pads to hit if she were to set the fastest time and win the race. The pads would provide a boost to the speed of the bike, but Leia was hesitant to make too much use of them, given the unreliability of the accelerator fitted to her machine. She didn't want it disintegrating underneath her at high speed …

Red, red, green!

The bike began to accelerate forwards as the slender blonde balanced herself, then swayed to one side to swing the bike onto an accelerator pad – whilst she didn't intend using too many, she knew she'd never win if she didn't hit at least one pad.

_Change gear, swerve past an obstacle, cut back to catch a second accelerator pad, cut between two more large pieces of debris, dammit, too close! Hit a lump of metal, bouncing out of control, get the bike back heading in the right direction, change up, faster, faster, swerve, swerve again, get off the side barrier you haven't got any room to manoeuvre there, get across the track, around that metal cylinder, change up again, don't slide too far you idiot! Keep control, no faster, what the hell was that sound, the bike kicked when I didn't hit anything, shit the collision earlier must've done some damage, just keep moving straight, there's nothing in front of you now, keep it steady, hit the line, ease down, the race is over – for now, anyway._

Getting her breathing under control, she slid from the bike, frowning as she saw the black smoke coming from the prototype accelerator, _Damn, I was right; that collision did some damage. I hope the mechanic can fix it quickly, I don't know if my time's good enough to win._

She got up from the bike, legs shaking slightly, and went over to check her time with the mechanic. "Thirty-three point eight seconds! Unbelievable! You've got the fastest time on your first ever race! Gadon must've known what he was doing after all! You're in the lead! If no-one else beats your time, you'll win and the Vulkars won't get the recruits Brejik was after! We'll be – I don't believe it! Someone just beat your time! Who – Redros. I should've guessed. Thirty-one point four, a good time, but beatable. You'll just have to make another run."

Leia eyed the accelerator dubiously. "Will that thing stand up to it?" she asked the Ithorian.

He looked at the bike, then back at her. "One run. Make it count."

She sighed. _Bugger._

"That thing looks like it's gonna blow, y'know? I mean, one run and it's almost scrap! She gonna risk another run? She's crazy!"

Carth decided not to answer the excited young Twi'lek. Firstly, nothing he said would make any difference, either to Mission's current state of mind or to Leia's decision, and secondly, because he knew damn well that yes, she was crazy, crazy enough to stake her life on one last run on the track. If that was what it would take to get to Bastila, then the blonde would take the risk without a moment's hesitation.

He watched the vidscreen with Mission as the black-clad figure checked her bike over, spoke to her mechanic, looked at the race-board, then went to speak to the race organiser as her bike was moved into position on the starting line.

_She has to do this, or else we're going to lose Bastila and probably the entire war. All that on one one rider whose never raced before today, and an accelerator which looks like it's about to explode. I hope the Force is with her right now …_

Leia steadied herself on the bike, eyeing the course stretching out before her. There was more debris than ever, a legacy of unsuccessful racers and their collisions with the obstacles. She knew she had no choice this time – it was full power from the off, and hope the prototype accelerator held together till she crossed the finishing line.

_Wait, ready, go!_

The bike shot forward, accelerating second by second as Leia aimed at every pad she could reach, slaloming from side to side, whipping between two large obstacles at speed. The bike seemed less controlled than during the first run, as if trying to escape her grasp. The machine was flying now, barely under her command, and she clipped an obstacle in passing. The whine of the accelerator grew to a roar, and she risked a glance over her shoulder.

_Shit, it's on fire! Get over the line, fast!_

The bike flew across the finishing line …

_Carth and Mission stared in horror as the bike burst into flames, then exploded in a huge fireball._

"_Shit!" The pilot stared at the image as other viewers around them gasped. A black cloud of smoke billowed out from the end of the racetrack, obscuring everything. Of Leia, there was no sign ..._

**End of Chapter Five**

Well, there you have Chapter Five! A bit more background on our heroine, but hopefully not enough to destroy the mystery altogether. Anyway, please review - it's what we fanfic writers live for!


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